A Young Girl’s War Between the Stars

  78

  Serenno. 36 BBY/964 GSC.

  “Tanya, it’s good to see you again,” Jenza smiled, pulling me into a tight hug.

  “You as well,” I replied, squeezing back before letting go and stepping back. I was now taller than Master Dooku’s sister, and it felt a bit strange to be physically looking down on the woman who had been so much taller than me just a few short years ago.

  Turning to the two girls, she beamed a smile, but though I felt her gushing attention towards Allaya in particular, she held it in for now. “Come on, let’s get you all settled in,” Jenza said, waving for us to follow.

  I turned and looked at Cindy, who smiled. “Go on ahead, boss lady. I’m going to check in and make sure things are still okay at my old shop, then visit the family. I’ll probably sleep on the ship.”

  I rolled my eyes. “We can set a room aside for you,” I pointed out.

  “Yeah, but… You know me. I’ll be more comfortable on the ship. Besides,” she sent me a knowing look, “someone might need a quick extraction.”

  “It was one time—” She cleared her throat. “Twice. It was twice. That doesn’t indicate a pattern.” Cindy merely smiled.

  This cheeky—! I glared and her smile grew wider.

  “Call if you need anything,” I told her, deciding that for the moment, it was better to retreat since she had the verbal high ground.

  “You too~,” the blonde called, turning and strutting away towards the public speeder access terminal.

  “So, what are we doing, Master?” Allaya asked, as we followed Jenza to a military speeder.

  The speeder was basically a large armored personnel carrier with a mounted turret on the top. It was manned by an armed and armored team of Serenno Security Forces. My own escort of Mandalorian marines, here at the insistence of both Aylin and Satine, fell in behind and around us.

  We settled into the APC, Jenza and my Padawans sitting while I stood and grabbed an overhead bar with the rest of the security detail as the vehicle sealed up and we took off. Jenza turned a smile on her niece as she answered, “Once we get to the palace, we’ll have the two of you fitted for dresses and start preparing you for tomorrow.”

  Asajj sent me an unsure look. “Dresses?”

  “Yes. This is to be a very public event. You’re both very important, so you should look the part.” She turned an annoyed look on me and I smiled back.

  “My armor is as much my uniform and a badge of office as my lightsaber is,” I said, preempting what she was going to say. “And I’m going to have to nix anything too ostentatious. They can have very nice robes to go under their armor, but they’re both Jedi Padawans and Mandalorians, and should look the part.”

  “But Tanya,” Jenza began, and I shook my head.

  “This isn’t a social event, it’s a matter of state.”

  The older woman sighed, actually pouting. “Fine. But you know, there will be social events after.”

  “Do with them as you will for those,” I shrugged.

  ““Master!”” the pair of Padawans sent me nearly identical looks of betrayal.

  I sent them a smile and they flinched back in their seats. “Think of this as another form of training. Unless you’d rather we skip it and go find somewhere to enjoy some nice live fire training—”

  “This!”

  “We’ll do this!”

  I nodded. “That’s what I thought.”

  “We have much to catch up on,” Jenza sent me a smile. “But I’d also like to set aside some time to get to know my niece. After all the business with the announcement and the coronations.”

  “Coronations? Plural?” I asked, and Jenza nodded.

  “Yes,” Jenza confirmed with a nod. “Dooku’s, of course, as leader of the Confederation.”

  “Did they finally settle on a title better than ‘Head of State?’” I asked.

  Jenza nodded. “Suzerain.”

  I considered for a moment, before eventually nodding. From the perspective that a ‘Count’ or ‘Countess’ was the leader of Serenno, an entire planet, it made sense enough. “And the rest?”

  “I’m taking his role as ruler of Serenno.”

  Frowning, I asked, “I thought you already shared the role and you had the title ‘Countess?’”

  “We do, and I do. But it’s still a thing that needs to happen officially, to acknowledge that I’ve taken the role on solely,” Jenza explained. “Then there are a few other roles within the Confederation that will need to be acknowledged. Dooku’s second in command, cabinet, and so on.”

  I frowned as I realized that this was quickly turning into an all day affair. Perhaps if I called Aylin and arranged a sudden ‘emergency call’ that required my immediate attention—

  “Don’t even think about it,” Jenza glared at me, and I raised an eyebrow. “You have to be there.”

  “I wouldn’t dream of leaving.” No, I would plan it thoroughly.

  Jenza sent me a skeptical look. “Uh huh. Somehow, I doubt that.”

  The vehicle slowed, then jolted slightly as it set down. The rear door opened and a pair of men stepped outside, sweeping the area before we were given the all clear and the men began piling out. Jenza turned a smile on Allaya and Asajj, offering her hands to the pair as she stood. “Now, girls. Let’s go inside. You can tell me all about your adventures together. And Allaya, your father should be by this evening, once he’s finished his preparations for tomorrow.”

  Allaya lit up at that, almost but not quite drowning out what I was sensing from Jenza. I frowned as, even though she showed no external signs, internally she was nervous—had become so the moment the APC slowed. Nervous and expectant. I met her eyes and sent her a questioning look, and she shook her head once, minutely.

  Strange, I mused, but motioned for them to precede me out of the vehicle. I followed behind the trio as the men fell in around us and we started walking towards the palace. That’s when my danger sense blared and instincts kicked in.

  I snapped out my lightsaber, catching a big, bright red blaster bolt just before it reached Jenza’s head and sending it into the sky harmlessly as the sound of it being fired reached us just a moment later. I had a formula spun up and tracking its trajectory back to the source, only to pause for just a second as I took in the end point, a frown pulling at my lips. Allaya and Asajj reacted only a second later, pulling out their lightsabers and taking defensive positions around Jenza as the security team brought up their weapons, sweeping the area the shot had come from.

  Shutting off my lightsaber, I ordered, “Get everyone inside!”

  I had a feeling I knew what was going on, so I looked around and after a quick sweep, spotted what I had hoped for. Pulling a speeder bike that had been sitting nearby over with the Force, I slid on and started it up. Then I took off, flying low and fast as I followed the trajectory of the shot into the treeline. What I found waiting on the other side left me raising an eyebrow and confirmed my suspicions.

  “Hey boss,” Xana waved as she put down a sniper rifle and dragged a tied up man to his feet. “You want this one, or should I?”

  Setting down and shutting off the bike, I frowned. “Xana. I thought you were still on Mandalore.”

  The disguised Zeltron shook her head. “Jenza asked me to come home and take care of some things. I got in ahead of the Redoubt.”

  Nodding, I asked, “I see. And did you just pull me into a false flag operation without briefing me first?”

  Xana winced. “Yeeeah. Sorry,” she apologized, before putting her boot in the guy’s ass and sending him running. “Let me just take care of this.”

  He made it a few steps before she drew her pistol and fired twice into his back, then a couple of shots to either side of him—one that blasted a tree, the other that dug a divot out of the ground as the man fell onto his face. She quickly moved over and untied him. Pulling a blaster pistol from his holster, she forced his hand around it and turned it around, firing in my general direction a few times but missing—not, however, missing the trees behind me.

  “Okay!” she dusted her hands off as she dropped the guy’s arm to the ground and turned to face me. “You showed up. He dropped the rifle and fled. You told him to stop and drew your blaster. He fired at you with his. You returned fire. He died. I’ll need you to call it in here in a minute, but I’ve got a team waiting on standby to come pick up the body and document the scene, which I’ll be a part of. That’s when I got here and verified that this guy is a known element—a Trade Federation spy we’ve been keeping an eye on for a while. I’ll apologize officially to Jenza for our failure to see this coming and she’ll be able to start hammering the TradeFed on the galactic news.”

  Crossing my arms, I decided to hear her out. I knew that sometimes, information compartmentalization was necessary. If she had a good excuse, I’d give her a pass. If not… I’d spend a few days educating her on the need for communication. “And you didn’t warn me why?”

  “Everyone was being watched. The spies have been more active with the official announcement coming tomorrow. There were people from both the Republic and the TradeFed at the spaceport and in position at the palace, not to mention the people monitoring the comms. If I’d warned you, they would have picked it up. Besides, this was better and kept it a surprise. If you knew, your Padawans might have sensed something was off. This way, you reacted genuinely and they took their cues from you.”

  I found myself nodding slowly. I didn’t like it, but she had a point. “Fine,” I agreed, then keyed up on my radio to call it in. With that done, I asked, “Why are we staging a false flag to blame on the Trade Federation? It can’t just be for some press.”

  “It’s not,” Xana shook her head. “War’s going hot. Quietly, but it’s starting. You know we’ve been quietly trading blows back and forth between the TradeFed for a few years now. They blockaded us, you kicked their shit in and sicced your people on them. They start hitting our convoys, we send bigger and more ships, then hit back at theirs. This is different. We want to take the offensive and strike against the TradeFed first. We’re going to be pushing them out of some systems that want to ally with us and have asked for help getting rid of them and breaking blockades.”

  I hummed. “And having a direct attack against the Confederacy’s new leader’s sister gives us a moral justification to pursue action against them beyond simple defensive measures. We use it to reframe the Trade Federation as aggressive oppressors waging a silent war to expand their territory and control the trade routes and ourselves as liberators and use the attempted assassination and the fact that the leaders of the worlds we liberate asked for our help as proof.”

  Xana winked, pointing at me. “You got it.”

  In the distance, I heard vehicles approaching rapidly. Looking down at the corpse of our spy and the rifle, I considered the immediate future and what was coming down the pipe. Things were going to be very busy, very soon. I had more work to do as Darth Logis before I could disappear into the Republic Navy for a while.

  I stuck around until the crew Xana had put together arrived, just long enough to give an official recorded statement, then left to head back to the palace. On the way, I put in a call to Cindy.

  “Hey boss lady. What’s up?” the blonde asked.

  “If you’re not too busy, I need you to try to find something for me.” I had some ideas in mind, thanks to Xana’s little stunt, but I didn’t have the time to do anything about them at the moment. At least, not in person.

  “Sure, if you don’t mind waiting until after I see the family. What do you need?”

  “I don’t mind. And I need you to track down a piece of equipment and have it sent to the Redoubt…” I told her what I wanted and heard her laugh.

  “Sounds like a fun project. How about we work on it together, hm?”

  “I’ll need help testing and machining the parts to make it suitable for use, so yes. That sounds good,” I confirmed.

  “Alright! I’ll get on that as soon as I can. Anything else?” she asked, sounding positively chipper.

  “That’s it. Thank you, Cindy.”

  “Sure, no problem! Talk to you later!”

  The call disconnected and I let my mind wander for the rest of the trip back to the palace.

  I should talk to her about building some sort of quick change system for the focusing crystals. Encase the crystal in a separate housing that can be ejected and replaced. It would probably require some structural changes to allow for easier access…

  Sipping at my drink, I idly petted Catya curled up in my lap and purring away contentedly. Sitting in a large, overstuffed chair, Master Dooku smiled down on Allaya who sat curled into his side, her eyes drooping as she fought to stay awake. To my surprise, Jenza had taken Asajj and pulled the blonde girl into her lap, where she had been reading an actual paper book until she fell asleep.

  Master Dooku caught my eye and nodded towards Allaya. Chuckling quietly, I eased Catya off of my lap and onto the warm spot of the chair I’d occupied as I stood. Moving over to Jenza, I collected Asajj’s book and put it down, before picking the girl up and carrying her to the room she would be sharing with Allaya. After taking off her shoes and loosening her robe, I tucked her in and came back for the redhead.

  Allaya blinked sleepily awake as I started picking her up. “Don’ wanna go to bed yet. ‘M not tired.”

  “Come on, time for bed. We have a lot to do tomorrow,” I reminded.

  She made an annoyed sound and went limp in my arms as I carried her out of the room and dropped her off with Asajj. Closing the door behind me, I made my way back into the living room and retook my seat.

  “They’re out cold,” I reported, reaching out with the Force and grabbing the clear bottle sitting on the table between us, refilling my crystal glass with its warm golden contents before putting it back.

  Master Dooku likewise refilled his glass and Jenza’s as the two shared a brief glance. I raised an eyebrow and waited as I took a sip of the exceptionally smooth liquor. It was higher quality than anything I had ever had in Japan—though most of my experience there was with either sake or beer as opposed to what seemed to be a whiskey. Regardless, it tasted good and didn’t burn on the way down like trying to drink straight jet fuel.

  Finally, Dooku said, “I expect tomorrow will be… lively.”

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  I sat up a bit straighter. “In what way?”

  “As you know, the Republic cannot allow a large number of planets to withdraw and then form their own power bloc,” Master Dooku began, and I nodded. We knew that from the very first talks about separating and forming an alliance between the planets tired of the Republic taking their tax money and resources to feed the Core and giving nothing in return, while refusing to uphold their end of the agreement. “They must do something. They have not attempted diplomacy before now, both because they did not value the individual worlds and because doing so would be an admission that we have a legitimate point that they cannot simply stonewall behind bureaucratic red tape. Now that we have allied officially, they will have to address the Confederation before it grows too large and gains too much momentum. They cannot ignore us any further, hoping that the planets that left would come crawling back. Diplomacy will be the first step, but that diplomacy will be backed with force.”

  “The Jedi,” I said, and he nodded. “That has traditionally been our role since the Ruusan Reformation.”

  “Their role,” Master Dooku sighed, and I raised an eyebrow. “I cannot, in good conscience, remain a member of the current Jedi Order as it stands. Not after their poor handling of the situation on Jedha. The response to Mundi was a slap on the wrist for him and a slap in the face to you, and myself by extension as your Master.”

  I sent him a curious look at that but didn’t ask. I hadn’t thought much about Mundi since our last encounter, but it seemed that the Jedi failed to deal with him in a way that satisfied Master Dooku. I didn’t need to know what exactly they had done, just that it was likely some half-measure as with the last time. Which meant that now, I would be dealing with him my way.

  Permanently.

  Master Dooku continued, pulling me from my thoughts, “Mundi is merely a symptom of a greater illness. However, doing this in addition to our secession will certainly make enemies of the Order. I will not ask you to leave.”

  I shook my head. “I barely had any connection to them in the first place, outside of a few friends and contacts. But leaving openly is probably the wrong call. My position within the Order allows me a lot of latitude on assignments, so if asked, I could say that I’m still a member of the Order even if I can’t support the Republic. And as long as I stay away from the Temple, I don’t think it will be a problem maintaining the ties I have.”

  “I’ll leave the decision to you, then,” Master Dooku nodded. “I have been in contact with other factions of the Jedi. The Green Jedi of Corellia, Master Djinn Altis, and others. I intend to start my own Jedi faction—not immediately, but within the next few years. We will need to prepare first, then recruit students and Masters. But that is a discussion for another time. The Order will send someone to attempt to mediate, to try to talk us down.”

  Frowning, I asked, “Why wouldn’t Master Yoda or Master Windu come themselves?”

  Master Dooku shook his head at that. “The Grand Master and Master of the Order cannot be seen negotiating directly with us as that would acknowledge our legitimacy in the eyes of the senate. That is why they will send a Master of lower status on the High Council, or one unaffiliated with any Council. Who they send will tell us how they intend to handle the situation.”

  “And when they realize we’re serious? That we aren’t backing down?”

  The older man looked like he had suddenly aged ten years. “The standard procedure would be to affect an arrest and bring us back to the Republic for trial, in this case for seditious treason. We will have soldiers on standby. Enough to hopefully convince them to reconsider. I would prefer that things not come to blows. However, if they do…” He hesitated for just a moment, before nodding. “I want you to prioritize the safety of your Padawans.”

  I could tell he meant Allaya specifically, but that was fine. “I’ll make sure they’re safe. Then, I’ll come back to help.” Taking a sip of my drink, I thought back to the events of the morning before asking, “And the Trade Federation and our likely Sith puppeteer?”

  Smiling at that, Dooku took a sip of his own drink while Jenza answered. “I know you spoke with Xana this morning during the incident.” I nodded at that and she continued, “There are several planets which have been blockaded and the Republic have abandoned. A few have reached out to us. We intend to start with those, then move on to the ones who have openly requested aid in the senate and have been denied or stonewalled. We’ll send a fleet in and remove the Trade Federation. Hopefully, we’ll pick up a number of new members that way.”

  “A good way to make fast allies,” I murmured.

  “We will start with Botajef. It is an ecumenopolis which sits near the border between the Outer and Mid Rim along the Hydian Way, on an intersection of hyperspace lanes. It possesses a large shipyard that will be very useful to our cause, once we liberate the planet and shift production from Trade Federation vessels. The blockade there has largely accomplished what the blockade of Serenno was meant to, in strangling trade along the Hydian Way to and from the Outer Rim for any ships not traveling with a large military escort,” Master Dooku explained. “From there, we will focus on securing the rest of the Hydian Way while sending out punitive forces to liberate other worlds that have requested aid.”

  “Secure our supply lines and physically closest allies and neighbors most likely to become allies first,” I nodded in agreement. It was a sound strategy.

  “How is Mandalore coming along?” Jenza asked. “Any trouble?”

  I shook my head. “Not much yet. I’m expecting to see the worst of it when I issue my official challenge.” I paused for a moment, before adding, “Or I hope to. With any luck the Death Watch and other subversive elements, the worst of those who have doubted Satine and Jaster’s shared rule these past few years, will take the bait and allow me to make an example of them. With the example made, that should satisfy even the most hardline traditionalist Mandalorians. Satine’s civilian faction will certainly grumble a bit, but as long as they see that their elected representative still holds power and can influence policy, then they should be satisfied.”

  Humming, I asked, “What sort of timeframe did you have for establishing a new Jedi sect?”

  “A few years. A decade at most,” Master Dooku answered, his raised eyebrow telling me he likely knew where I was going with my current line of thought. “With the war coming, I have been considering options, and perhaps Altis was right in commissioning a praxeum ship as opposed to a Temple.” His eyes flashed with interest as he continued, “I saw the report you sent about your modifications to the Redoubt. Do you believe you could replicate the effects on a larger ship?”

  “It would take time and a lot of kyber and Force conductive material. I used songsteel, but I’m not certain where to get more in a large enough quantity to use with a ship.”

  “We could source songsteel easily enough. Not cheaply, however. For a praxeum ship, it would be worth the cost. As for kyber, there are multiple sources. That will be much easier to acquire. We could produce it industrially if need be.”

  “Not sure how well industrially produced kyber would work, but we could try,” I agreed. “But with enough kyber and a force conductive metal, I’d just need to survey the ship and run a few scans, before I could produce a plan for making the modifications. After that, the actual work could be done by anyone, so long as it’s done to spec.”

  “Good. Once we have somewhere to train them, we can focus on recruitment.”

  “I was thinking, I’m sure there are a number of Force sensitive Mandalorian children. We could work out a way to train them as both Jedi and Mandalorians,” I suggested.

  “I had a similar thought. I have been speaking with Augwynne. Depending on how things go with Allaya, we may have recruits from Dathomir.”

  “That’s good. I was going to suggest them, but you beat me to it,” I smiled, finishing off the last of my glass. “Well, I should turn in. Early start tomorrow.”

  “Good night,” Jenza sent me a smile while Master Dooku nodded.

  I put away my glass and stood, Catya stretching before hopping up and settling on my shoulder. I left them there, making my way to the room beside the one containing my Padawans. After a quick shower, I climbed into bed and quickly fell asleep with a purring cat on my chest.

  I scanned the crowd, following Xana’s instructions until my eyes landed on a trio of robed figures standing on an elevated platform towards the back of the crowd. The first and smallest of them, I had actually met.

  Female, wearing a head covering in addition to the usual robes. Green face with blue eyes and black diamond tattoos on her chin. Jedi Knight Luminara Unduli. She looked much more confident than the last time I had seen her.

  The other two, I recognized but hadn’t personally met. The first, and oldest, was a Kel Dor man—his head looking more like a mass of burned or tumorous flesh that, for his species, was the norm. Regardless of appearances, Master Plo Koon had a reputation for being fair, honorable, and just. Level headed, but willing to get his hands dirty when the situation called for it.

  The second, I didn’t actually recognize. He was a Besalisk—which was a reptilian or amphibian descended humanoid with four arms, a bony head crest, and a throat pouch or wattle very similar to a frog that occasionally swelled slightly as I watched. This particular one wore Jedi robes and had a pair of very large double bladed lightsabers hanging from his belt. Apparently sensing my gaze, he pointed two fingers of one hand to his eyes, then at me in the universal ‘I’m watching you’ sign. With the crowd this large, I couldn’t get a read on his emotions, but the hostility was fairly obvious.

  This is going to end poorly, I mused as, at the podium, Master Dooku—now Suzerain Dooku of the Confederation of Independent Systems—finished his speech to uproarious applause. I clapped along politely as Allaya and Asajj did likewise beside me.

  The question is, will they make their move now, or wait? I wondered, studying them from the corner of my eye.

  The tall Besalisk Master made to move towards the stage, but a gesture from Master Koon stopped him. The man looked irate, his throat swelling and turning red for a moment before deflating. Then, he turned away and hopped down, disappearing into the crowd. Knight Unduli followed a moment later.

  Though I couldn’t see his eyes, I felt Master Koon’s attention focus on me briefly, before he too turned away and disappeared into the crowd. The voice in my ear told me their positions, but I couldn’t follow them with my eyes, so I let it go for now.

  Tonight, then. They’ll most likely make their move during the party. If they’ve brought Master Koon, then this should actually just be a diplomatic mission and I doubt they’ll actually attempt an arrest. Security at the event should hopefully be enough to dissuade them.

  With that, I turned my focus back to watching our surroundings, barely paying attention as Jenza moved to the podium next and the entire event continued to drag on.

  Hours later, after a quick change of clothes and having to wrangle the girls into the dresses Jenza insisted on, I found myself separated from Master Dooku as a former Republic senator and the newly elected Confederate Congress Leader Bec Lawise and a group of four other members of the new Confederate Senate occupied his attention with a conversation about trade. Allaya and Asajj had thankfully found some children around their own age to speak with and I found myself keeping a watchful eye on them from across the room.

  “They’re cute when they’re that age. Which one’s yours?” a voice asked at my shoulder and I blinked, looking over to find a woman at my elbow. She was human, with short red hair and bright green eyes—reminding me something of an older Bo-Katan, save that her hair had that ‘artistically messy’ look. I couldn’t quite place her age, but at a guess I would say in her late twenties to early thirties. It took a moment for me to put a name to the face and I recognized her as one of the new senators—a direct transfer from the Republic Senate, in fact.

  “Hm?” I blinked as I actually registered the question, before chuckling. “The two girls who keep eyeing the side door like they can escape. Which one is yours?”

  “The young man trying to convince them to let him sneak out with them. That’s my son, Lux,” she rolled her eyes, nodding towards the young man who shared her red hair currently leading the trio towards the side door in question before offering a hand. “, Senator for Onderon and the Japrael sector.”

  I took it with a smile and a nod. “Jedi Knight Tanya Mereel, Mand’alor. Those two are Asajj and Allaya.”

  “Yes, I heard someone say you were standing in for them,” she nodded, and I realized she had misheard me. That was understandable though. There was practically no difference in pronunciation between the Mando’a word for the title and the same word in Basic. I decided not to correct her. “Shall we follow?”

  “Sure,” I agreed, and we moved through the crowd together as the trio slipped outside.

  The side door led to the gardens surrounding the palace, and we caught the kids laughing as they disappeared into a hedge maze just past the garden. Senator Bonteri sighed, draining the last of her glass of wine and setting it on a nearby table. A droid came by carrying a tray and picked it up, before offering a selection of drinks. I selected a flute of wine for myself as the redhead took another.

  “I hate these things,” she muttered quietly as we moved over to lean against the railing separating us from the garden. I raised an eyebrow as I felt the truth of the words. Chuckling, she said, “Seen one, seen them all. Apparently that’s true for the new Confederacy as well.”

  “This is my first,” I admitted.

  “You’ll get used to it,” the woman sent me a smile, before taking a sip. “You put on a pretty dress and a fake smile. Go around and talk to people you can barely stand to secure trade agreements and votes to try to benefit your people. Occasionally, you see someone you actually like but you rarely have time for them and you’ll have to make time for them outside of a gathering like this. From time to time, you meet someone new. You’ll do the usual song and dance, trying to feel each other out, see where you each stand. Sometimes, things don’t work out and they become just another person you force yourself to socialize with because you need something from them—if not today, then tomorrow. Others, you find out you have more in common than you thought and you make a new friend.” She sent me a wink at that last part.

  “Networking with unfamiliar people you aren’t certain you can trust is an unfortunately necessary part of any social gathering,” I murmured, sipping my own drink.

  The redhead chuckled quietly. “Not quite as difficult for you as it is for the rest of us, I imagine,” she said, sending me an amused look. I nodded in acknowledgement and she continued. “You seem like the kind of person who prefers when people are straightforward and just say what they mean, so then let’s cut to the chase.”

  “I do appreciate it,” I nodded in agreement. “What did you want to talk about?”

  “Where do you stand on all of this? The secession. The Republic.”

  I glanced around, seeing we had a few listeners. I was tempted to spin up a noise cancellation formula around us, before thinking better of it. This was the perfect opportunity to feel out those in attendance, and spread the word. The redhead sent me a curious look as I made up my mind and spoke just loud enough that those nearest would hear and could report back.

  “Being completely candid? They’ve violated the agreements that the Republic was founded upon and failed to uphold their duties. They’re corrupt. They have turned everywhere outside of The Core into what are effectively slave labor politely disguised as tax chattel in order to enrich the Core, at the expense of everyone else. They have actively stonewalled complaints and stymied attempts to remedy this problem for hundreds of years. Galactic divorce in the form of secession is the only peaceful solution.”

  Senator Bonteri’s face lit up in a smile that actually reached her eyes. “Yes!” she nodded, her emotions practically gushing agreement. Our listeners apparently agreed as well, so I tuned them out for now and focused on the woman in front of me. “They’ve been strangling everyone outside of the Core for longer than most people have been alive to remember! But now, we’ll be free to take care of our own people. We can build up our own fleets, ignoring the limitations set down during the Reformation, and finally do something about the pirates, raiders, slavers, and other threats plaguing everywhere outside of the Colonies and the Republic Navy’s patrol routes.”

  Frowning, I sent her a skeptical look, before correcting her. “We won’t be ‘free’ to.”

  The older woman blinked, her expression falling. “What do you mean?”

  “Obviously, the Republic are going to have something to say about it. Both about the secession and the fleet and troop buildup.”

  Senator Bonteri nodded. “Of course. They’ll pursue legal action. Which we will of course ignore, just as they ignored us—” I shook my head and she trailed off. “You don’t think so?”

  “Historically, the response of petty tyrants, dictators, and corrupt governments to their citizenry breaking away is to react with violence. Immediate and overwhelming violence.”

  She opened her mouth, then closed it, before slowly shaking her head. “No, they wouldn’t. The Republic doesn’t want a war…”

  “No, they don’t want a war,” I agreed. “They wanted us to try to use their rigged system to change things, so they could go on denying us forever. We just declared ourselves free of that system, meaning they can no longer control us with the stroke of a pen. They want what they see as their money and resources, which we are now denying them. As far as they’re concerned, they are the only legitimate legal governing authority in the galaxy. All systems answer to them, and if they don’t, it’s only because those systems don’t have anything they want or they’re too far away to enforce it.”

  I paused to wet my throat before continuing. “Onderon? The Japrael sector? You’re in the Inner Rim—grid coordinates O-9, if I recall correctly. Neighboring Hapes and Bravais, and just one sector north of my former home of Zeltros. Right next door to Kuat, just two sectors over. Strategically, Onderon is too close to the largest shipyard in the Republic to ignore.”

  I felt it as the fear set in. Saw her face pale beneath her makeup. The realization hit her like a flying speeder and the glass in her hand shook, before slipping between her suddenly nerveless fingers. I reached out and caught it by the stem before it could fall more than an inch. Swallowing thickly, Senator Bonteri asked, “Is that what you want?”

  I shook my head. “No. Absolutely not. War is… a meat grinder. It grinds people up endlessly until there’s nothing left—either no one left to feed into it, or nothing left to burn to fuel it. It is a horrendous waste of people and resources. I hate it. I want peace. Prosperity. Freedom from oppression and tyranny, even if it’s the simple tyranny of the corrupt and incompetent.” I paused, letting that sink in. “However…”

  How did that saying the Americans loved so much go? I wondered, thinking back to my first life and the things I’d learned in my otaku love of all things military. Ah, yes. “The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.”

  The senator shook at that and I continued. “I used to believe that war was pointless, but I was wrong. Sometimes, war is the only answer. The inevitable outcome of standing up and saying no more. And if violence is what it takes to dissuade someone from enacting violence upon you—from stealing your resources, taking your land, destroying your livelihood, destroying your culture, or getting fat off of your taxes while you starve without even honoring the most basic obligations they promised you—then sometimes, violence is called for. It’s the only rational choice left when the enemy themselves is irrational and refuses to or is incapable of seeing reason. We may not want it, and we may not be the ones to start it, but it is coming and we must be the ones to finish it.”

  Turning to look at her, I met her gaze and held it. “We can and likely will offer peace at every step of the way. Every chance we get. But they won’t take it, because it would mean acknowledging that they were wrong. It would mean losing power. And it would embolden the more dissatisfied members of the Republic to leave and join us. When peace means having to acknowledge our validity and an unconditional cessation of hostilities, that they aren’t going to get what they want and the days of leaching off of the rest of the galaxy are over, they won’t be able to stomach it. Especially when they can just order others to die for them while they sit back and wait for things to return to normal. So, it may start slowly. It may not start today. It may begin as a defensive action on our part. But war with the Republic is inevitable at this point.”

  Slowly, Senator Bonteri reached out and took her drink from my hand. It shook as she raised it to her lips and finished it off. Then, she took my own and did likewise. Taking a breath, she let it out in a deep sigh. “Thank you for your candor. I appreciate it. Even if it’s not what I wanted to hear.” She paused, before shaking her head. “No, especially because it’s not what I wanted to hear. You didn’t try to lie, downplay it, or sugarcoat it. I need more friends who can speak openly and honestly.”

  Turning a shaky smile on me, she asked, “Would you be such a friend?”

  “If you’ll extend me the same courtesy, yes, Senator Bonteri.”

  “Call me Mina, Tanya,” she chuckled. She turned away and let out another long sigh. “Let’s talk about something else. You’re here representing Mandalore officially. What do your people need? I know the planet’s ecosystem was damaged, so foodstuffs must be one of the largest imports—”

  I felt something from beyond the garden, in the hedge maze—a flash of surprise, fear, and anger from both Asajj and Allaya, and a third source. “Stay here. I’ll be back.”

  With that, I took off, leaping over the railing and following my senses. I found them in the center, standing between the boy—Lux—and the Besalisk I had seen earlier, who I’d learned from Master Dooku was Master Pong Krell. Both girls had their lightsabers out, but not ignited as they backed slowly towards one of the exits and Master Krell followed at a sedate pace.

  I dropped onto the manicured lawn between them and Master Krell stopped. The overgrown toad chuckled, his throat swelling a bit with each. “There you are, Mereel. I told Plo all we needed to do to separate you from Dooku was to go after your Padawans, but that soft fool didn’t want to.”

  “Girls, go back to the palace,” I instructed and the girls started moving.

  Master Krell stepped to the side and gestured at the wall of the maze, jerking plants up and closing it off. “I think not. They can stay here until this is done. Unless you want to go ahead and surrender yourself now?”

  I reached out with the Force. Not for Master Krell or the hedge maze, but for something a little further. Not that distance mattered in this instance…

  The answer came with a twist in the Force and a curious “Mrow?” from my legs.

  “Take them to the ship.”

  Master Krell frowned in confusion as the cat sprang across the distance between me and the children, before a much larger twist in space sent them away. He let out a quiet, “Huh. Neat trick.”

  Shrugging, he pulled both of his lightsabers off of his belt, blue and green blades igniting to either side of him as he balanced them between his four arms. “Doesn’t matter. I’ll—”

  I launched myself at him, white-silver lightsaber snapping up and then out as I countered number of blades with reach and flexibility.

  No conversation. No witty banter. No petty threats.

  He had threatened my Padawans. I wouldn’t suffer another Mundi interfering in my life and certainly not someone who thought it was a good idea to go after children in order to use them as a distraction. The time for playing nice was over. That ended when the Order showed me that some people could just keep getting away with bad behavior with no real punishment or actual enforcing of the rules. Enough was enough.

  He was already dead, his body just hadn’t caught up to that fact.

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